The sales manager is the sales rep’s direct line of communication between himself and his performance. If this line is cut, if the sales manager is somewhat incompetent or won’t do his job properly, then the company has a problem. One of the most important factors that could influence a sales rep’s growth in his career is the sales manager’s ability to do his job well.

A top sales manager does this job by providing specific behavioral feedback. It is by no means an easy task. Each sales rep has his or her own set of behaviors he or she brings on the job. The top sales manager should be able to analyze these behaviors based on reports and turn them into feedback in a way that would inspire growth and positive change from the sales rep. (more…)

This is the second part of the article How To Let Go Of Underperformers – Top-Performing Sales Manager-Style.

In the first article, we talked about knowing when to let go of your underperforming sales people. It’s a tough decision, anyone who’s ever held the authority to fire someone can sympathize. But it has to be done, it needs to be done. To make things easier ask yourself these questions:

1. Would I hire the same sales person again?
2. If he or she left the company today, would I feel happy or sad?

An underperformer who gets a “no” and “happy” answer from you needs to go. It’s a simple as that. (more…)

The thing with underperformers is that because of their failures to hit quota, they start to have a hard time picturing themselves on top. They know they’re performing way below their peers and like a baseball slugger in a slump, they start to lose confidence.

The real challenge for the sales manager is to help underperforming salespeople stop this destructive thought process. Not easy. But a salesperson whose lost confidence in their abilities cannot possibly perform at the level that’s expected of them.

And this is where the third rule comes in. (more…)